Overbay Traded to Toronto!
NL West Preview
Many new faces throughout the entire Western Division
Eric Sacharski
NL WEST
Los Angeles Dodgers
2004 Record 93-69
Lost to St. Louis in Division Series 3-1
The Dodgers won the Western Division in 2004 despite struggling to score runs during long stretches during the season. Pitching was the strength for LA last year, and this offseason has seen a lot of turnover with the Dodgers lineup.
PITCHING
The Dodgers pitching was stellar for most of the season last year, and it should be strong enough to be the backbone in 2005. LA added righty Derek Lowe to the solid rotation of Jeff Weaver, Odalis Perez and Brad Penny. The bullpen is questionable in the set-up roll, but if Eric Gagne is healthy they have a top-of-the-line closer to knock down games in the late innings.
LINEUP
The Dodgers added a couple of big bats in 2B Jeff Kent and OF J.D. Drew, but they also lost a couple in OF Shawn Green and 3B Adrian Beltre, consider it a wash. With Paul Bako as the No. 1 catcher, and Jose Valentine as the 3B, it’s not hard to say that LA didn’t slip some on offense. Oh yeah, and they still have OF Milton Bradley to blow his stack every now and then too.
Player To Watch (PTW)
P Brad Penny -- This was a tough one to call, but I’m going to pick Penny because they Dodgers are going to rely on their pitching even more in ’05. If Penny can stay healthy, as the potential No. 3 starter he could benefit a ton from moving down in the rotation. For a guy who has yet to win more than 14 wins in a season (14-10, 4.13 ERA in 2003), Penny is one of many player the Dodgers are going to need to have career years in 2005 to contend.
San Francisco Giants
2004 Record 91-71 (2 games back, 1 game out of wildcard spot)
The Giants are the oldest team in baseball, so it’s almost a make-it or break-it season in 2005 for this team. With everyone’s favorite whipping boy Barry bonds out till who knows when, the team will need every ounce of veteran leadership to stay the course and make it into the postseason.
PITCHING
After Jason Schmidt, the Giants starting rotation is one big question mark. Lefty Noah Lowry looked great as a rookie last season, but… Jerome Williams was inconsistent and veteran Kirk Rueter was very hittable last season. Armando Benitez was brought in to be the closer, and together with Jason Christianson and Matt Herges, the SF bullpen should be able to keep most of the leads they are given in the late innings.
LINEUP
The Giants added veteran players across the board in the offseason, picking up SS Omar Vizquel, OF Moises Alou and C Mike Matheny. With those players added to an already deep, veteran lineup, the Giants could very well tread water while Barry Bonds is rehabbing his knee.
PTW
OF Pedro Feliz -- Feliz hit 22 HRs and drove in 84 runs in a utility role last season, but in ’05 he is the one that will most likely replace Bonds in left field. Talk about pressure. If he continues to improve his game, the Giants can fill in the gaps around him to support him in his new role. But if he falters, the team will be counting down the minutes till Bonds returns to the lineup.
San Diego Padres
2004 Record – 87-75 (6 games back)
The Padres were the surprise team of 2004. With good young pitching in a new “pitcher friendly” ballpark (Petco Field), the Padres stayed in the title race until late in September. San Diego won’t be able to sneak up on teams this year, like last season, so their improvement in 2005 will depend on their young talent continuing to grow.
PITCHING
Number one starter Jake Peavy was top-notch last season, giving the Padres the top-of-the-rotation stud that a contender needs. If Adam Eaton improves, and pick-ups Woody Williams (via free agency) and Tim Redding (trade w/ Houston) can eat up innings, the rotation should hold up. The Padres bullpen may have trouble waiting, because closer Trevor Hoffman has suffered arm troubles the past few years. If Hoffman gets hurt, the Padres next best arm in the pen is Akinori Otsuka, then not much else.
LINEUP
The Padres offense will have an almost identical look this year as it had last season, with the only exception being the addition of OF Dave Roberts at the top. They still have decent pop in the middle with OF Brian Giles, 1B Phil Nevin and OF/1B Ryan Klesko, and good young talent in SS Khaili Greene and 3B Sean Burroughs.
PTW
3B Sean Burroughs -- Burroughs is entering his third season, so it’s time for him to take a step up and raise the level of his game. He did hit .298 in 2004, but his power numbers (2 HR, 47 RBI) is just not enough production out of a power position like third. And it came in 523 AB, so it’s not like he didn’t get enough chances. If Burroughs can approach 15-20 HR and 80-90 RBIs, the Padres might find themselves in the NL West playoff hunt.
Colorado Rockies
2004 record – 68-94 (25 games back)
The Rockies are going to be an interesting team to watch in 2005 because they are going with a MAJOR youth movement throughout their lineup and pitching staff. They have 12 players on their opening day roster with less than one year of MLB experience, including 8 rookies.
PITCHING
Lefty Joe Kennedy is considered the Rockies No. 1 starter, but lefty Jeff Francis is clearly the most talented member of the Rockies rotation. Add righties Jason Jennings and Jamey Wright and you’re looking at a young and mostly unspectacular starting staff with the exception of Francis. Shawn Chacon is the closer, but how many games will he get to close?
LINEUP
Sure the Rockies still have veterans Todd Helton and Preston Wilson, but the familiar names end right there. 2B Aaron Miles and SS Clint Barmes look like they may be an exciting double-play combo, but they might also struggle at times like young players do. The Rockies will also go into the season with a rookie catcher, with J.D. Closser getting a majority of the innings behind the plate. With so many rookies and young players, the Rockies might hit too many run-scoring droughts during the season.
PTW
1B Todd Helton -- Choosing the player to watch on this team was difficult, because with so many rookies, they ALL are worth watching. But Helton is the brick to which the Rockies are building on this season. As long as he doesn’t try to do too much, Helton should be solid. The biggest question will be if Helton finishes the season in Colorado, since the Rockies might dump him to a contender in July just like they did with Larry Walker last year.
Arizona Diamondbacks
2004 Record – 51-111 (42 games back)
Nothing went right for Arizona in 2004, so they broke out the checkbook and signed away TONS of money in the offseason to try and fix things for 2005. This year’s team is drastically different then last year, both on the mound and at the plate.
PITCHING
The D-Backs were extremely active remaking their pitching staff, picking up Russ Ortiz, Shawn Estes and Javier Vazquez to go along with Brandon Webb at the top of their rotation. But with just Mike Koplove and Randy Choate as proven arms, the D-Backs bullpen might have trouble holding down leads given to them.
LINEUP
The only player returning to the D-Back lineup from last year is OF Luis Gonzalez. Jose Cruz, Jr. and Shawn Green fill out the outfield, while 3B Troy Glaus was given big money to be the big bopper in the infield. The weak spot in the lineup will be the top, as the D-Backs seem to think that their new light-hitting middle infield of 2B Craig Counsell and SS Royce Clayton can get on base batting 1 and 2 in the order.
PTW
3B Troy Glaus -- The D-Backs gave Glaus what many considered way too much money to be the big bat they need in the middle of the order. If Glaus’ back and arm are okay, he can be the MVP-type of player he was a few years ago. But if he starts to nicked and dinged, he might put too much pressure on himself and wilt under the pressure.